US government sues Southwest Airlines and fines Frontier for chronically delayed flights
abcnews.go.comThe Transportation Department is stepping up enforcement of persistent flight delays with a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and a fine against Frontier Airlines
The Transportation Department is stepping up enforcement of persistent flight delays with a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and a fine against Frontier Airlines.
The agency said the U.S. District Court lawsuit it filed in California on Wednesday alleges that Southwest illegally operated chronically delayed flights and disrupted passengers' travel plans. It says it's seeking “maximum civil penalties.”
“Airlines have a legal obligation to ensure that their flight schedules provide travelers with realistic departure and arrival times," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Today’s action sends a message to all airlines that the Department is prepared to go to court in order to enforce passenger protections.”
The Transportation Department said its investigation found that Dallas-based Southwest operated two chronically delayed flights – one between Chicago Midway International Airport and Oakland, California, and another between Baltimore, Maryland and Cleveland, Ohio.
Both flights were chronically delayed for five straight months and together resulted in 180 flight disruptions for passengers between April and August 2022, the agency said.
The department fined Frontier Airlines $650,000 in civil penalties with $325,000 to be paid to the U.S. Treasury and the remaining $325,000 to be suspended if the carrier does not operate any chronically delayed flights in the next three years.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after the Transportation Department fined JetBlue $2 million for chronic delays, the first time it imposed a
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